SecureRF Offers Next Generation of Asymmetric Security for the Internet of Things

SecureRF offers a family of Algebraic Eraser public key cryptography cores that offer increased performance while requiring low power and a small footprint. The AE Core is a Diffie-Hellman like authentication protocol that utilizes SecureRF’s Algebraic Eraser algorithm, a linear-in-time method, to enable higher levels of security to low resource devices without altering the standard platforms currently in use.

Designed specifically to address privacy and security needs of very low-resource devices, AE can be leveraged within any application currently using FPGAs, ASICs and other low power platforms (including ARM Cortex-M processors) to deliver public key authentication and security - making AE a fit for a wide range of industries including military/defense, consumer products, medical devices, building/home automation, automotive, credentialing and mobile payments. The AE Core is ideal for devices found in the Internet of Things (IoT) that are used for connectivity, credentials, the Smart Grid, industrial controls, and microcontrollers.

The Algebraic Eraser cryptographic method delivers performance for low-power, and passive devices. Offering both symmetric (private key or secret key) and asymmetric (public key) cryptography methods to meet a wide array of security and authentication needs, the AE algorithm runs in linear time with respect to the key length, and employs highly non-linear operations in a non-commutative infinite monoid.

SecureRF has been granted U.S. Patent 7,649,999 for its technology invention in the field of cryptography. The technology, described in the patent entitled “Method and apparatus for establishing a key agreement protocol,” provides a system and method for generating a secret key to facilitate secure communications between users via an algorithmically efficient one-way function using a branch of mathematics referred to as braid group theory. The algorithm is computationally hard to reverse while rapidly computable, thus enabling it to run on devices with low computing resources.

In addition to authentication, AE methods support a wide range of other cryptographic functions including identification, encryption/decryption, HASH functions, authentication, data protection and is available via partnerships and licensing arrangements. This includes the following:

- Authentication: Enables validation between devices to confirm identity. Message authentication codes and digital signatures can be used to ensure data integrity against modification or forging. This cryptographic function is used in anti-counterfeiting applications.

- Data Protection: Secures the entire data stream that is being carried, including the commands and information.

- Encryption and Decryption: A type of data protection that employs the process of obscuring information to make it unreadable without special knowledge. Encrypting the data, with a key management protocol, allows trusted users to read the data.

- Secured, Unencrypted Tag Data: Data on the device remains unencrypted, while a trust/policy layer maintains security - only transmitting it over a secured transport layer when in communication with cryptographically-authenticated trusted parties.

- Additional Security: Key agreement protocols, hash functions and stream ciphers.

To learn more about how the technology works, SecureRF has provided a white paper to provide further information.